“Mischief? A Ren after my own heart,” Akira grins, lopsided, taking the new Ren inside the house. “You could say that you’re stealing it. Metaphorically and platonically, of course.” A wink. “I’ve got a little bird of my own back home.”

Aki-chan kicks his feet a little in excitement. “I guess we should introduce ourselves, huh? You already know I’m Akira, and this,” he nudges his hitchhiker, “is Aki-chan.”

Somewhat nervously, Akira-kun shuffles his things, opening his notebook to his introduction page and holds it out for Ren to read. Akira has to stop — he can’t see with a notebook stuck in front of his face, surprisingly — but it’s a small price to pay for filou-chan.